Going to a music festival has been on my bucket list for a few years at this point. I tried to check it off a few months ago with Fyre Festival, and let me tell you that was one of the biggest L’s I’ve ever taken; we’ll leave it at that. So when the opportunity to attend Made in America (sponsored by Budweiser) I caved in and prayed that a festival backed by Jay Z wouldn’t serve up another platter of disappointment. ​

THANK GOODNESS FOR JAY Z

The festival was great, even though thousands of us were caught in torrential downpours all day Saturday--the quality of the performances, amount of space, assortment of food and beverage options and sound quality made up for it ten-fold. We screamed, sang, jumped and avoided mosh pits and brawls while enjoying the perfect mixture of artists. I enjoyed all of the acts, however there were three that I really came to experience.

Solange

When I tell ya’ll this was a spiritual performance. The rain was pouring and Solo brought the house down, her performance was honest, soulful and free. She sang, danced, talked to the crowd, even twerked a little. After being pushed around during the Migos performance taking in everything that is Ms. Solange Knowles from the colors to the band her set was the perfect vibe.

J.Cole

Cole world, real cold world-- I have loved J. Cole for too many years to count. From his lyricism to his flow and how he is so verbal about his thought and working on the community it was amazing standing in the rain as he began the show with:

“I see the rain pouring down, before my very eyes,should come to no surprise” - For Whom the Bell Tolls

The entire crowd was hypnotized by his performance- singing along to every song from his first mixtape to his latest album. We were all left in awe and wanting more.

Jay Z

H-to the iz O V to the iz A! The main act, Jay ended the festival with a medley of songs from his decades of work, ensuring us that he would try to fit as many songs into the allotted time and boy did he, with cameos from Damian Marley, and Meek Mill the crowd went crazy rapping to some throwbacks. We also sang happy birthday to Queen Bey (both traditional and Stevie Wonder versions).Jay took it up a notch by pretending to end the night, only to appear on another festival stage to complete the evening. ​

Made in America was a great experience, while I could have done without my ruined shoes and being pushed around with no remorse I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.